The Penitent
Edna St. Vincent Millay 1892 (Rockland) – 1950 (Austerlitz)
I had a little Sorrow,
Born of a little Sin,
I found a room all damp with gloom
And shut us all within;
And, "Little Sorrow, weep," said I,
"And, Little Sin, pray God to die,
And I upon the floor will lie
And think how bad I've been!"
Alas for pious planning—
It mattered not a whit!
As far as gloom went in that room,
The lamp might have been lit!
My little Sorrow would not weep,
My little Sin would go to sleep—
To save my soul I could not keep
My graceless mind on it!
So I got up in anger,
And took a book I had,
And put a ribbon on my hair
To please a passing lad,
And, "One thing there's no getting by—
I've been a wicked girl," said I:
"But if I can't be sorry, why,
I might as well be glad!"
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 05, 2023
- 46 sec read
- 99 Views
Quick analysis:
Scheme | XABACCCA XDBDEEED XFXFCCCF |
---|---|
Closest metre | Iambic tetrameter |
Characters | 691 |
Words | 155 |
Stanzas | 3 |
Stanza Lengths | 8, 8, 8 |
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"The Penitent" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/9471/the-penitent>.
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